QPR -- 5th, 20 GP, 10-3-7, +1 GD, 33 points v. Cardiff City -- 21st, 20 GP, 4-7-9, -6 GD, 19 points ------ 27 November 12:45 Loftus Road ------ Rangers News: Olly is recovering, but should be on the sideline. However, Matthew Rose will be out up to six weeks, Gnohere is out for the season, Gino Padula is a doubt for the match. If Padula can't go, and with Rose and Edghill out, we don't really have a starting back four -- Serge Branco, who has only played midfield for us, or Lewis Hamilton, a youngster who has only played in preason, appear to be the best options. Let's hope Gino can go. Personally, I really want to win this one -- in part because I'll be going (I leave for London Wednesday night) and in part because those SOBs beat us in the play-off final a couple of years ago! The Opponent: Cardiff is 1-5-4 on the road, so is coming away with a draw or better in more than half of their away trips. They've lost three in a row, including a League Cup match, but their last win was a 4-1 battering of West Ham. Their last six (most recent first): H Preston L, 0-1 A Reading L, 1-2 H Portsmouth L, 0-2 (League Cup) A Rotherham D, 2-2 H West Ham W, 4-1 H Leicester D, 0-0 The Series: Rangers lead 25-9-21. Our last three meetings were in Division Two in 02/03 -- each team won away during the regular season, then you know what happened in extra time of the play-off final. The teams first competed in 31/32 in old Division 3 South. The Referee: Dermot Gallagher gets the call. Of his 13 matches this season, 7 have been in the Premiership. He's issued 25 yellows and 1 red. His last QPR match was our 1-0 away loss at Wycombe in 01/02. In 00/01, he worked our 1-4 home League Cup loss to Colchester. He also worked our 1-2 home loss to Liverpool in 95/96. In 92/93, he worked a 0-0 Premiership match against Ipswich at Loftus Road.
Just in case anyone reading this thread is planning to go, keep in mind that the match is now all ticket and tickets must be purchased by 5 p.m. on Friday.
Cardiff striker Peter Thorne, who has been out for a month with a neck injury, says he hopes to be involved against QPR on Saturday.
I'm off to the airport shortly. Will be in the UK tomorrow morning! Will try to check in from there. Come on, you R's!!
Hello from Shepherd's Bush! Good news on the injury front is that it looks like Gino will be able to play. So, at least we've got a proper XI to put out there. Serge Branco resigned (another month), so that'll help a little with depth. The official site says Simek has returned to Arsenal -- I was hoping we could keep him for another month.
I don't tell you this nearly enough, Mark: I hate you. Hope you had a great time. I'm telling you, give me a heads-up next time: you've got to go to a match with Paul. I swear he bleeds hoops...and not those ************ red-and-white ones, either.
Good result yesterday and a really fun time before, during, and after the match. The back line got their act together after last week and both Shittu and Santos were quite good and Bignot and Padula had pretty good days, as well. Cook was dangerous in the second half and the forwards did pretty well, I thought. Overall, a solid, if not spectacular effort. The R's fans were clearly quite happy with Cardiff's current place in the table, given the Millennium Stadium result a couple of seasons ago, so chants of "You're going down!" and "We'll send you down in May!" (we play them in the last game of the season) were quickly picked up! Overall, an excellent time, both for the 90 minutes in Loftus Road and in getting to have a few drinks with friends. Until early tomorrow (Monday) morning. You didn't happen to be around Marble Arch on Friday, did you? I saw someone in Leeds jacket and hat that I thought looked like you, but wasn't sure.
It was my 16th QPR match live in the five seasons I've been going over. They've had 10 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses (2-0-2 Championship, 6-1-2 League One, 1-0-0 Carling Cup, 1-0-0 LDV Vans Trophy, 0-0-1 FA Cup): 00/01 H West Brom W (Div 1) H Arsenal L (FA Cup) A Preston L (Div 1) 01/02 H Northampton L (Div 2) H Bury W (Div 2) 02/03 H Colchester W (Div 2) A Cheltenham D (Div 2) N* Cardiff L aet (Div 2 Play-Off Final) *in Cardiff, but it was neutral with nearly even numbers of supporters 03/04 H Chesterfield W (Div 2) H Sheffield Wednesday W (Div 2) H Brighton W (LDV Vans) H Brighton W (Div 2) A Sheffield Wednesday W (Div 2) 04/05 H Derby L (Championship) H Swansea W (Carling Cup) H Cardiff W (Championship)